One dead after shooting erupts over stolen copper

Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart said 23-year-old John Douglas Elliot Jr. is dead after a shooting near Muldrow.

Lockhart said the shooting happened Tuesday evening north of Muldrow. The sheriff said Elliot and an accomplice, 31-year-old James Mathis, were trying to steal copper and other things from an abandoned house off of Oklahoma State Highway 64B.

The sheriff said the landowner heard what was going on and confronted the people with a shotgun. Lockhart said the landowner ordered the men to get out of their truck and wait for police to arrive. The name of the landowner has not been released.

"The landowner shoots a couple of times in the windshield, the suspect side-swipes the vehicle to the landowner, and drives about a quarter-mile and is deceased in the vehicle," said Lockhart.

Lockhart said the passenger, Mathis, got out, but Elliot sped toward the landowner who was firing his shotgun at the truck.

The sheriff said Elliot pulled over a short distance from the property and died from his injuries. The case is under investigation. No arrests have been made.

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